Robocop: The Animated Series

This short lived 1988 offering may very well have been Robocop's only decent telivision interpretation

In 1987, Robocop, a distopian future thriller about a mortally wounded Law Enforcer rebuilt and reborn as a cyborg enforcer to serve the public trust, protect the innocent, uphold the law, hit theaters. The audience it attracted praised the movie for it's concepts of duality, how far cybernetics could go to create the "perfect human", how much of a man is in the machine, and the extent of corporate greed and malice.

It was also praised for how brutally violent it was, a high body count, a whole scene with the officer, Alex Murphy, being ripped apart literally by gunfire, and other memorable scenes of incineration, decapitation, mutilation, and assassination.

We should know, most of us saw this at age eight, and don't once deny you didn't.

Come on, we ALL saw this film at a young age, Robocop's popularity resonated across the globe at the time, we saw it at a friend's house, tricked our grandparents into acquiring it, snuck into theaters under the pretense of watching a Disney movie, we ALL saw Robocop, and it became clear to Marvel Animation that we did...because they made a cartoon out of it.

And in spite of being the first nail in Robocop's coffin as far as being regarded as an R-Rated cult icon, it wasn't that bad.

Robocop: The Animated Series was the first cartoon to ever be based on a movie never intended for children. (Aliens is another franchise). This show is excellent, it's a crime this series lasted only thirteen episodes (probably because the "Ultra Police" line bombed, and parents weren't quite keen on an R-Rated character so quickly becoming a cartoon on the heels of a movie franchise barley

To start with, the title sequence retained the scene where Murphy is shot down by his assailants, all retaining their appearances from the movie. The scene only lasts a good three or four seconds into the sequence, but it's there. The title sequence is, itself, not very long, a linking narration continues through it, and after Murphy is reborn, the sequence pretty much ends

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Murphy's death isn't the only thing retained from the movie, this is the only series I think that retained EVERY element from the original movie. Everyone is in here, Anne Lewis, ED-209, The Old Man, Dr. McNamara, you name it, it can be found here.

McNamara, the shows recurring nemesis, also used more than just Ed-209 in this series, locked in a bidding war with Robocop's operators for the services of OCP's CEO, McNamara would create new weapons and machines to try and outshine Robocop, but they would always lack the one competent Murphy had, human instinct.

That is, until the classic episode "The Man In The Iron Suit", an episode that only proves this series is overlooked tremendously

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Aside from fighting enemies on the opposing side of the law, Robocop had an opponent on the Detroit Police Force, a snide condescending hateful street lieutenant called Hedgecock. Hedgecock saw Robocop and all robotic functions in Detroit as ticking time bombs that could doom Detroit to destruction.

He would treat Murphy with sheer disdain, and every time Robocop was either tampered with, used against OCP, and his weapons use manipulated to endanger civilians, Hedgecock would be the first to pursue Murphy, hoping to eliminate him.

Seeing an opportunity to embarrass Robocop, Hedgecock agrees to pilot a new Iron Suit devised by Doctor McNamara, and to test it out in a "friendly exchange" with Murphy in a "safe" Police training environment at a junk yard. Hedgecock nearly kills him, thanks in part to upgrades McNamara "neglected" to tell Robocop's team. So Anne takes it upon herself to enter the training program unarmed and warn Murphy. The bitter Hedgecock promptly brushes her aside, too busy concentrating on eliminating the only threat to his use fullness as a mere flesh and blood police officer, and she is wounded in the effort.

The enraged Murphy, who was on the verge of defeat, promptly snaps and breaks Hedgecock's Iron Suit apart, his most repressed emotions finally brought to the surface, one of the few times it occurs in the series and so naturally in the franchise. He is on the verge of killing Hedgecock when Anne manages to convince him she's only slightly bruised, and that Hedgecock will be pressed with charges.

For some reason or another, episodes followed this that featured none of the repercussions that came out of the episode, but hey, many episodes in the 80's that HAD continuity often had to face the wrath of networks that didn't give a damn what order they aired them in, so this came off as a series finale more than a traditional episode. Things happen in it that can't be brushed aside, Hedgecock went too far, Robocop regained a great deal of his emotions in a fit of rage, basically reclaiming his humanity...strange network decisions.

The series had other milestones, "The Brotherhood" sees a Ku-Klux-Klan style breed of anti-Machine demonstrators resorting to staging "malfunctions" of assorted cybernetics around the city with the aid of a scrambler, opening up Robocop to a variation on the racism theme

Robocop would eventually return to the small screen with a live-action series that followed up on the childish Robocop 3, and in 1999, another Robocop animated series was aired "Robocop: Alpha Commando", neither of which were a success, even a series of TV Movies "Robocop: Prime Directives", a throwback to the classic, violent days of the character, was marred by bad acting and a low budget.

If you ask me, Robocop is better being animated on a network that allows Robocop to be ROBOCOP, and stop presenting him as a Children's icon. We get it guys, you knew we watched Robocop way before we should have...that doesn't make the character one that can rival Pokemon, that makes us very naughty. And we got spanked.

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This used to be on early on Saturday morning in my area, as part of what I think was called the Marvel Action Theater,which had a computer generated intro. By early, I mean six in the morning. I would normally wake up for school at seven. I seriously had to set an alarm to watch this. It also had Dinoriders, Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, and the awesome X-Men one-shot that the epic six-player arcade game was based on. Spider-Man was just early 80's reruns, though, and not a new show.

I remember a robocop cartoon airing in the morning like at 7 on weekdays back in the day but it sucked, Robocop always had the right equipment for everything in his suit no matter the situation he had something for it he was like Adam west's Batman and his utility belt(Shark repellent spray?!?!). He had rocket skates on his feet for christ sakes i remember he stopped a runaway train using them I dont know if it was an episode or if he did that in the title sequence.

Dude, as good as this show was the concept was shameless and is a perfect example of all the crap that was to come of making adult themed characters and plots suitable for younger viewers in order to make a profit....... Even at the age of 5 I knew it was not exactly kiddie kosher to have Robocop Bubble bath even as cool as it was.

oh and what about the sub plots? yeah thats what i thought.if the prime directs had any failing it was the lack of detail to his (robocops out fit.) re-watch the series and recall why it was good. the subplots were key. they answered massive amounts of questions ie: what happened to his son, and other past issues.

FIRST OFF, DONT CALL ME 'SON"...BOY... im older than you. and spare me the garbage that your view is the only important one. in cluding telling people how to type.

and yes, i am telling you the animated series was weak. a movie is a movie and should be enjoyed as such.

as for reasons? the animation was lacking quality, like your attitude.the voice overs were sad, they did help a child recognize that it was robocop. the plots were inferior by cartoon standards ie: save the day, the city doesnt need robocop, etc.. and the fact that robocop HAD to have ANYONE to back him up, let alone some lame idea of a strike force , is weak. it defied the actual idea of robocop... if you want to get techincal. as for " directives" was a continuation of the movies. it was an fresh idea to see what would happen when robo was replaced, if anyone could and what would the show down between them be like. it was simply a "what if" situation.YOU dont have to like them. in fact YOU dont have to like anything. you dont even have to like this rebuttal.after all, its not about you, its about an open forum, so keep it that way.

Ah yes.... I remember this series as well. And they even did an episode where Clarence (somehow) came back & kicked Murphy's ass, putting him in the hospital (go figure). And as I remember, that was probably the 13th episode, so it never got resolved....

Man, I so wish I had seen this show. I didn't even know it existed. However, thanks to Zarius' fine writing I feel like I've experienced at least one episode, and a good one at that. Zarius, this is one of the best "show" articles I've read on this site. It also restored some of the love I lost for ROBOCOP thanks to some of the poor spin-offs you mentioned. Great work.

I think I remember this. I was about six when I saw the first movie (thanks to my dad--he rented it). I can remember this and Terminator 2 being among the first violent movies I've ever see. I thought it was cool to see a big robot walking around. Hehe!